Car-coupling



(No Model.)

G. W. SMILLIE.

GAR COUPLING.

N0. 602,879. Patented Apr. '26, 1898.

ATTORNEYS.

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PATENT FFTCEQ GEORGE W. SMILLIE, OF NEWARK, NElV JERSEY.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 602,879, dated April 26, 1898.

Application filed April 20, 1897.

To all who??? it may concern.-

Be it known that l, GEORGE W. SMILLIE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car- Couplings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates more particularly to certain improvements in that class of carcouplings represented by the one shown in my prior patent, No. 560,823.

Heretofore in couplings of the class to which this invention relates the draw-bars have been provided with knuckle-opening levers adapted to operate automatically to throw the knuckles open when the coupling-pins were raised away from holding relation to the said knuckles. The said opening-levers were so formed and adjusted in relation to the cooperating parts when the pins were locked in their raised positions that the lower limbs of the said opening-levers were exposed to the action of the inner arm of the knuckle. Thus should the couplings when drilling the cars be struckand the knuckles thereof be thrown with force to their closed position the said arms of the opening-levers would receive the full force of the blow and were liable to be either broken or so bent as to be inoperative, thus involving a large waste of time and cost in making the repairs or renewing the broken parts.

In my construction I allow a peculiar play to the said lever, whereby should the knuckles accidentally be closed in the said drilling operations while the pin is in its raised and locked position the lever-arm will be free to be moved with the inner arm of the knuckle to the limit of movement of said knuckle without bending, breaking, or being strained in any manner.

To this end I provide the coupling-pin with an inclined lip or projection which is engaged by a slotted knuckle-throwing lever, having an upwardly inclined or hooked extremity engaging said lip or projection, the relations of parts being such that the said lever is free to elsewhere at convenience.

Serial No. 633,019. N model-l slide a limited distance upon the pin projection and is free to slide a limited distance upon its fulcrumal pin after the coupling-pin has been raised to its upper limit, thereby giving to said opening-lever the desired limited movement by which the objections above referred to are avoid ed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each 'of the views, Figure 1 is a plan of a coupling of the improved con struction. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail showing the relation of the coupling-pin to a certain knuckle-throwing lever and showing certain peculiarities of construction, and Fig. 4 is a detail plan of the knuckle.

In said drawings, a. indicates the draw-bar, having the ordinary coupling head ct, on which is fulcrumed the knuckle I). The pin 0 slides in a vertical perforation or slideway Within said head a and is adapted to be raised by a lever d, fulcrumed upon the car-body or The said lever 61 is adapted to raise the pin and to lock the same in its elevated position, and the pin is thus held in its said elevated position with little, if any, play. The raising of the pin serves to operate the knuckle-opening lever e, the longer arm f of which lies contiguous to the inner arm of the knuckle-lever, so as to engage and throw the same to the open position when the pin 0 is raised. The shorter arm f of the lever e is engaged by the projection g of the pin when said pin is raised, so that the lever 6 turns on its f ulcrumal bearing and throws the knuckle, as described.

The lever works in a slot or aperture in the draw-head provided for the same, and the preferred method of obtaining the fulcrumal bearings above referred to is to simply pass a pin through 1'', transversely through perforations provided therefor in the upper part of the draw-head, asindicated in Fig. 1. The lever-aperture, it will be understood, extends in from the pin and knuckle chamber Within the draw-head and permits a free movement of the lever, such as indicated in Fig. 3; but the lower arm of the said lever, when finally engaging the end wall of the aperture, is limited thereby in its movements, and thus is held in permanent relation to the pin, so that it detains the latter within the draw-head or acts as a detent to prevent complete withdrawal.

To secure the freedom of action whereby the knuckle-throwing lever is permitted to turn pivotally after the pin 0 has been raised, and yet maintain a constant bearing on said lever, I have slotted the lever e at its fulcrum or have otherwise slotted the fulcrumal bearing, so as to prevent binding of said lever after raising the pin, the slot being shown at h, and have hooked the short arm f, or haveformed its surface where it engages the projection g, so that it lies more or less closely in a circle of which the fulcrum of the lever is the center, the projection 9 being also hooked or made to more or less perfectly present a segment upon which the short arm may slide as it turns on its center. Thus, notwithstanding the fact that the pin lies stationary at its upperlimit of movement, the lever 6 may turn on its fulcrumal bearings a distance sufficient to accommodate it to the knuckle and allow the latter to turn without interference or breakage.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is- 1. The combination with the draw-bar having the head a, the knuckle fulcrumed thereon, said knuckle having an inward arm extending into said body to engage the pin and be locked thereby, of said pin having a lateral projection g and a lever for throwing the said knuckle to its outward or uncoupling position automatically when the pin is raised, the said lever having a limited independence of movement on its fulcrum while maintaining a constant engagement with the pin, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with the draw-bar having a head and a knuckle fulcrumed therein, of a pin sliding in said head to and from coupling engagement with said knuckle, said pin having bearings for the knuckle-throwing lever at one side thereof, and said knucklethrowing lever engaging both said pin and said knuckle to throw the latter open when the pin is raised, the said lever being slotted at its fulcrum to permit a limited sliding of said lever on said fulcrum and the bearings at the points of engagement of said lever with the pin being inclined to the direction of sliding movement of said pin, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of a draw-bar,a knuckle fulcrumed thereon, a slotted lever for throwing the said knuckle outward to its uncoupled position, and a pin having a lateral projection, the upper face of which is upturned and a lever arranged on loose bearings, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 14th day of April, .1807.

GEORGE W. SMILLIE.

Witnesses:

CHARLES H. FELL, O. B. PITNEY. 

